For
those who are still wondering why the campaign train of the Delta State
Governor, Mr Ifeanyi Okowa, has not received the expected publicity and
razzmatazz as it was during his first coming in 2015, SecretReporters can authoritatively report that practising
journalists in the list are in conspiracy to frustrate him, following the
shabby manner of treatment meted out to them by the campaign council.

Findings
by SecretReporters revealed that the
Deputy Director of publicity for the campaign, Mr Timi Tonye has allegedly
diverted monies meant to be given to journalists after every coverage of the
event.

According
to our insider sources in the campaign team, over N1 million was approved for
every campaign, to be shared to journalists. Our sources within the press
community confided in us that Tonye rather diverted some huge chunk of the
money and gave one of his boys to remit peanuts to them, an action which
angered them.

We gathered that instead of giving the online media N80,000, he gave them N40,000 while Warri Correspondent Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) got N100,000 instead of N150,000, that was pencilled down for them. Other chapels were also cheated.

Money released for media but diverted

Speaking
to us, the journalists complained on how rash and brash Tonye and his team has
been to them and threatened to boycott Mr Okowa’s campaign train

“Micheal
(NUJ State Chairman) told us to even leave the campaign for them if this is how
they will be treating journalists”, stated a source.

Another
of the aggrieved journalist was more vocal in condemning the poor media
arrangement of the campaign

“Is
this how Uduaghan did it in 2015 even though he was not the one running? I read
that Fejiro Oliver has boycotted the campaign. It is the same way all of us
will leave the campaign for them to do their reports themselves. The way those
guys treated us in Sapele and Koko like animals cannot be forgotten and we will
pay them back”

Mr
Okowa who flagged off his gubernatorial campaign last week Thursday as the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer has a serial contender and loser, Mr
Great Ovedje Ogboru of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as his main
challenger.

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Secret Reporters is an online news media with a mission to expose government, corporate and private individual corrupt practices in all sectors and system through citizens' whistle blowing and private investigative journalism without minding whose ox is gored.